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Buried Treasure

Like many people, we visited Dorset’s spectacular Jurassic Coast for one reason. Well-trod paths over dramatic cliffs lead to pretty coastal villages but we weren’t looking up. With heads down and eyes on the ground we had one goal – to find fossils.

The 154 km stretch of coast between Exmouth and Studland Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage area, with geology spanning the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Millions of ancient creatures and plants are preserved in the sedimentary layers of the cliffs, waiting to be revealed when the cliffs crumble away during wild weather.

At the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre we saw huge ammonites dating from the Jurassic Period. With high hopes we joined the crowds on Charmouth beach and, although we found many tiny treasures, there were no 185 million year old fossils lying around waiting to be discovered.

Continuing our search, we travelled west to Lyme Regis, a very busy town with very narrow streets. Avoiding the congestion and costly parking, we left the car at Charmouth Road car park. From the top of the cliffs it was a gentle downhill walk to the foreshore where a wide wall, built to protect the cliffs from erosion by the sea, doubles as a walking route into town. It was only 400 metres but we took our time, enjoying wonderful views of the English Channel, the Jurassic limestone cliffs and the stony beach connecting Charmouth and Lyme Regis .

Evidence of fossils was everywhere in Lyme Regis.

The Lyme Regis Museum houses a vast collection. Some fossils were collected by Mary Anning, who made her living finding and selling them in the first half of the 19th century, while others have been found by modern enthusiasts. Along with more beautiful ammonites, there were fossilised plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, sea creatures whose descendants include whales and dolphins.

Fossils are still sold in Lyme Regis but we didn’t want to find our first fossil in a shop. The best way to achieve our aim was to join one of the museum’s guided walks, led by paleontologists Chris, Paddy and Tom.

We met the our group outside the museum and, after a short explanation about the geology of the coast, our guides led the way to the beach, where early morning wanderers were already scouring the shore.

Paddy showed us how to look for signs of fossils in the stones and demonstrated safe techniques for breaking them apart.

Armed with a little knowledge and much anticipation the group spread out, and before long fossils were turning up everywhere.

Our guides made sure everyone ended the walk with a handful of history. Ours included a tiny ammonite encased in mudstone and two belemnites, distant relatives of today’s cuttlefish.

With our goal accomplished and our walk completed, our perspective changed. It was time to look at more than just the beach!

It’s a bit of a sombre landscape, isn’t it, Carole? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in sunshine. It’s all French Lieutenant’s Woman 🙂 🙂 But those fossils are incredible. Thanks so much for sharing. You did make the most of your trip, didn’t you? How’s your daughter settling in? Hope she’s enjoying it.

Every other day we were in Dorset was glorious, Jo. This was the only cold, damp day but our walk was already booked so off we went regardless. Just wait until you see my next couple of posts with beautiful sunshine.
Melissa arrived in Vancouver the Wednesday before last, drove to Kelowna on Saturday and moved into her new accommodation, and by Wednesday she had a job. She’ll be working in a restaurant and starts this week. Her photos of the Rockies and all the snow are amazing.

How wonderful! I have never been to Charmouth or gone fossil hunting – your photos look amazing. I have been to Lyme Regis though and love it. I’m thinking that another Dorset holiday may be on the cards.

Jude, you should go. It’s not that far for you and it is so beautiful. We loved Lyme Regis too, but the first time we went we took the car all the way down Church St and then paid a small fortune for parking. It was a nightmare. We learned that lesson and started looking for park and rides everywhere. So much easier.

I wasn’t aware of a park ‘n ride at LR – we park at the top of Hill Road. Steep hill walk on exiting car park.
However, this is the nicest route to town and the seaside as you can go along by the river and visit the interesting shops tucked away!

What a wonderful way to see a bit of the coastline and find out a bit about the science and art of paleontology – I’d just bet there are some fabulous finds waiting for the right bit of cliff to crumble into the sea!

I looked it up and bought it on my Kindle. It is the story of Mary Anning. Even though she was acclaimed for her remarkable knowledge and collection, she was refused entry to the scientific organisations of the time because she was a woman. Thanks for recommending the book. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Very interesting. It’s amazing that fossils are still turning up after x 100 years of y millions of people searching for them, isn’t it. Let’s hope the area gives fossil hunters many more years of fun.

Oh, you took us back down memory lane! We visited Lyme Regis 23 years ago and found so many fossils on the beach we had to carefully choose only a few to take home on the plane. What treasures and what a wonderful place!

It might have been at the beach Dianne, but we wouldn’t have considered swimming. The water was freezing. There were some hardy souls in the water, but with my weak QLD constitution I just wouldn’t consider it.

Lyme Regis…sounds like something movie stars would name their kid. Never heard of this place! So thanks for the intro! Were you wearing thongs, or was it too cold? I love that old brick building, and I would LOVE to have one of those nautilus shells. Oh wait, I do, it’s inside a rock and comes from…get this…the mountains above Katmandu!!

Lucky you! That’s very exotic. It was way too cold that day to be wearing thongs and later it poured rain on us so I would have been squelching along in thongs. They are not made for walking in the rain. That old brick building is the museum…careful, you might enter by mistake. It was actually very good and not too large. Even I managed to read almost everything! Of course, Mr ET took much longer than I did. Free wifi to the rescue again!

A wonderful post. We were just beginning to explore geology in Australia – western Victoria and south coast of NSW – when a year in Warsaw intervened. Good to be reminded of pleasures in store on our return: nothing like the part of the world you showed so beautifully, but we did find ripples fossilised in a cutting near home.

What a wonderful experience the fossil hunting must have been. I was in Lyme Regis for the afternoon many years ago but at that time had no idea about it’s fossil connections. Somewhere else for my list…